Bagpipes, The General Election and Snapchat – In Conversation With Iain McNicol Last week saw the latest Labour in the City Event, ‘In Conversation with Iain McNicol’, the General Secretary of the Labour Party, at Newgate Communications who were splendid hosts. Labour in the City Chair, Sophia Morrell, led the conversation with Iain and first up was a delve into his twitter bio. Specifically who was the better bagpipe player,…

Hard Brexit, Soft Brexit, Train-Crash Brexit: these are all labels that have been bandied around; but what do they mean, and more importantly what are their consequences? A Hard Brexit is commonly understood to mean leaving the single market, the customs union and the oversight of the Court of Justice of the European Union so that the United Kingdom can take back control of its sovereignty, trade and laws. It…

Labour’s role in securing the best possible deal   Ever since the referendum result, the Labour Party has found itself caught between the rock of Remain resistance and a hard Brexit-related place. It is a dilemma that even the wiliest political leaders would struggle to solve. On the surface it seems the paradox of having the strongest Remain and Leave constituencies all represented by Labour MPs has necessarily left the…

The Government-in-waiting   The Labour Party in opposition must present itself to the public as a Government-in-waiting, and the public must see it in that light. The electorate must be able to envisage the country being run by the Labour Party. If that is not a realistic prospect, then why should (or would) the electorate vote in sufficient numbers for the Labour Party to govern?   The Labour Party is…

Before the UK triggers Article 50 of the 2007 Lisbon Treaty, it should do everything possible to preserve, promote and improve the capacity of the City as an engine of national and regional economic growth.   The challenges to this aim are many. For one Brexit, looming but not yet actualised, has enticed foreign financial centres to covet the City’s financial activity. For another, and without much information on upcoming…

Regardless of who triumphs in the Labour Party’s leadership contest, it is worth considering how the party could construct a progressive financial services policy programme based on both its ideology and values and recognising the value of a robust financial sector. A fresh agenda in this area may now be worth pursuing given the ongoing global debate on reform of the financial system and corporate governance and the new Prime…

Labour in the City has launched its Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/labourinthecity/   Like our page to see the latest viewpoints and news!

A friend recently asked me for some advice on how to invest a windfall, couched in the following caveat: “I don’t want to place it with a manager. I don’t understand how they justify their fees and seeing as they call their clients ‘muppets’, I’d rather go it alone.” This brief and damning summary of financial services from an average individual shows the scale of the challenge facing the industry….

Whatever your views on the most desirable qualities for the leader of the Labour party, there remains a need for all parts of our movement to have places to go where they can debate and socialise. Labour in the City was established in early 2012 to provide just that kind of forum: somewhere where Labour supporters working in finance and related professional services could network and talk about politics. We…

Currently, there is little realistic analysis of the options and their consequences. This note sets out some potential paths for discussion.   If Article 50 were activated and if the UK were to leave the EU, then the UK would not be able to re-join the EU on terms as favourable as it currently has. Its various opt-outs and rebates would fall away and not be renewed; it might have…